Any good (lighter) Buddhist book recommendations?

[SadandConfusedWA]

I am intrigued by the whole Buddhist philosophy.

 

I have pin-pointed that one of my greatest sources of unhappiness is not living in present but constantly worrying about things going wrong. I am not happy even when I am happy, because I have already skipped forward in my mind, to the future when everything falls apart. As a result, I am always either unhappy because things have fallen apart or am unhappy worrying about things falling apart.

 

I am also too attached to the outcome and am not enjoying the process.

 

I mean, I can be on a date with a guy, everything is going great then I would suddenly get quiet because in my mind I am already worrying that he will never call me again. As a result, I probably give off a depressing vibe which turns guys off and makes this a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

I have gathered that Buddhism is based on "living in the moment" premise and would love to read a not-too-heavy book on this so that I can grasp this concept in more detail.

[zengirl]

Now Buddhism itself is a religion, so loads of it has to do with the dogma/structure of the world (Which I personally don't believe in --- thus why I call myself a pseudo-Buddhist). Likely, what you speak about is Zen. Buddhism itself has many sects and is not precisely about living in the moment, though it's generally about reflection, acceptance, and self-transformation. (Generally speaking, if was founded, as most religions were, to help with acceptance of suffering and death, but it happens to take a more meditative, active way to do so than most Western religions.)

 

Good books for beginners: Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen (if you're going to read 1 book on Buddhism, this is where one should start, I think). The Compass of Zen by Seung Sahn, which is written about/by a modern day Zen master. Zen Mind, Beginners Mind (for those not familiar with Zen, this will be messy at first; but that's how Zen is). The Three Pillars of Zen (This is kind of a practical guide. I find it a bit simple, but it's a pretty basic modern Zen book.) Everyday Zen: Love and Work. This one does a good job of being pretty practical.

 

The thing about Zen is that it's mostly about active meditation. You have to sit down and meditate every day. You'll likely feel like a failure when you do the first few or maybe 100 or 1000 times, it's different for everyone. I still feel like I fail at meditation a lot. Of course, this is silly, and it's an egoistic view of viewing meditation --- as though one can "Win" at meditation --- but my point is, that most people don't feel truly calm when they meditate. Monks have told me it took them 5,10,15 years to feel calm when meditating or that they still don't.

 

Active physical work is also helpful. There's a reason the ideas are associated with martial arts, like karate/tai chi/tae kwon do or yoga. Cardio keeps help your brain healthy too, but these sort of movements really help with focusing one's mind on their body, I find. And, of course, it's about living. It doesn't so much matter what you think or read (though I understand reading to get there) but how you live.

 

Wiki or Google the "Flower Sermon" and Zen Koans and you can get some background here. I also recommend the blog zenhabits.net.

 

Taoism would be good for what you want too. It's a silly little book, but the Tao of Pooh is good for laymens. The concept of P'u is key.

 

For living in the moment, there is The Power of Now. It's a self-help book so the writing is heavy handed, but the actual idea is pretty sound. It's not Buddhist, but it has a mix of Buddhism, Taoism, Kabbalah, and general common sense mixed in. I think this is probably the best book for what you are asking.

[sanskrit]

You can not "do" zen, it is "undone," and if that sounds ridiculous, it is. If you insist on wasting your time with it, "Zen Flesh Zen Bones" and Thomas Merton's little Chuang Tzu compilation are not so bad additions to the recommendations zengirl made already. Be sure to burn the books after you read them so they don't pollute more minds though, and if you run across anyone who says they are "into zen," punch them in the face. You are better off saying "Namu Amita Butsu" 8 million times than studying zen for 8 million hours.

[witabix]

You want a good Buddhist book thats quick and easy to read?

 

'The Buddhist Book of War Stories'

[LucreziaBorgia]

I read The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh when I was going through some hard times last year. I would have to say it helped tremendously!

[a_woman]

Now Buddhism itself is a religion.

 

wrong

 

the biggest mistake anyone can make when discussing buddhism is to say that it's a religion, to be honest I switch off when I hear this, no point reading further.

 

it's a philosophy, it has only been converted to 'religion' by monks such as those in Sri Lanka who want to live like parasites rather than do any work.

[Ronni_W]

I find the customers' comments at amazon.com invaluable, when I'm trying to choose books for myself.

 

In addition to 'The Art of Power', you could check:

~ 'Wherever You Go, There You Are' by Jon Kabat-Zinn

~ 'Ruling Your World' by Sakyong Mipham

~ 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle

 

'The Seat of the Soul' by Gary Zukav is not particularly "Buddhist" but, for whatever reason, it wants me to mention it.

[SadandConfusedWA]

I read The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh when I was going through some hard times last year. I would have to say it helped tremendously!

 

Woah this one really grabbed me. I have just been reading the reviews on Amazon.

 

I will check out few others too.

[Ariadne]

Try Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth.

 

It's a blast to read, and he puts all the Buddhist concepts together in an amazing way.

 

You will get the gist of all of this written for the modern world.

 

You can see some of his videos in utube.

 

He also has a book called: The Power of Now. It's pretty good, but I liked the other one better and the concept of now is covered there too.

 

(How funny now you are starting to become interested in this too).

[Ariadne]

(I :love: SaC)

[Simon Attwood]

Not exactly buddhist, but;

 

Destructive Emotions; A dialogue with the Dalai Lama. by Daniel Goleman

 

A meeting between Science and Buddhism;

The recounting of a meeting between buddhists (inc Mr Lama), philosphers, psychologists, neuroscientists, etc. that took place in Dharamsala, India in March 2000.

[meerkat stew]

wrong

 

the biggest mistake anyone can make when discussing buddhism is to say that it's a religion, to be honest I switch off when I hear this, no point reading further.

 

it's a philosophy, it has only been converted to 'religion' by monks such as those in Sri Lanka who want to live like parasites rather than do any work.

 

Agree that certain aspects of Buddhism are more disciplines or "aspects towards a religion" than actual religions, but disagree that the broad practice of Buddhism, especially the more devotional branches such as Pure Land and much of what goes under Mahayana are not religions. The concept of the boddhisattva, Amitaba, Avelokitesvara (yes had to google the spelling ) is highly metaphysical and well within the definition of "religion," for example.

 

It's interesting that all world religions tend to have different levels of practice, a broad metaphysical level practiced by masses of folks, often including miracles, divination, signs and portents, a highly esoteric level practiced by very strict devotees, and everything in between. The esoteric level ends up not being very "religion like" at all. It isn't uncommon for instance to meet Christian monks for whom even the existence of god is not a keystone in their practice. The mass levels of religions tend to blend with politics and socio-cultural dynamics to the extent that they become watered down, and the esoteric levels tend to be so narrowly practiced that they are culturally irrelevant.

 

Most practitioners of religions tend to approach the belief transactionally, they make a "deal with the ineffable" and get something in return, a gumball machine for the soul. It's just human nature to do so, I'm not trying to throw stones. I tend to like the Calvinist interpretation as putting in immense effort with no certainty at all as to the end result. Those types of interpretation tend to focus more on the dharma or devotional lifestyle itself as the ends rather than the "heavenly gumball" at the end.

[zengirl]

wrong

 

the biggest mistake anyone can make when discussing buddhism is to say that it's a religion, to be honest I switch off when I hear this, no point reading further.

 

it's a philosophy, it has only been converted to 'religion' by monks such as those in Sri Lanka who want to live like parasites rather than do any work.

 

It is a religion. In the West, it is mostly a philosophy. It is a religion in that it has dogma* just like any other. Buddha described 6 stages of life and reincarnation and such. People also practice it as a religion in the East (and a few in the West, I suppose). It is considered a religion in Korea and the 2nd largest one.

 

Religions are philosophies. Religion is generally a set of believes explaining or giving meaning to the existence of the Universe. Buddhism DEFINITELY fits this if you study all of it. You're thinking of a much stricter version of religion, according to what the Judeo-Christian West believes religion to be.

 

*Now, the dogma of Buddhism is generally more forgiving, but it has very specific tenets set forth about the nature of karma, levels of rebirth in the realms, etc. To me, this is dogma. But I approach it as someone closer to an Agnostic or Atheist than a Judeo-Christian. To a Judeo-Christian, I understand your assertion, but it just isn't so.